You may not care the China controls over 95 per cent of the world’s supply of rare earth metals, but you might want to.
China is putting a squeeze on the export of these valuable raw materials and building up a national stockpile. Funny thing, the communist superpower is not using these metals to make anything. It’s holding them hostage so it can control global supply and price. As you would expect, the supply is going down and the price is going up.
Rare earth metals are used in everything from laser-guided weapons to consumer electronics. Manufacturers are paying more for these metals and will pass this cost along to the consumer. It may take a while, but this increase will eventually trickle down to our wallets and hit us where it hurts the most – our beloved electronics. [The Wall Street Journal]
Republished from Gizmodo
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